1) FINISHING A “SEFER TORAH”

(a) There were extra letters in the Sefer of Agra (R. Aba’s father-in-law):
1. R. Aba: Genizah is required only on account of missing letters, but not if there are extra letters.
(b) (The second teaching of Rav): One may finish a Sefer Torah even in the middle of a Daf.
(c) Question (Beraisa): One may finish a Chumash (one of the five Chumashim written by itself) in the middle of a Daf, a Sefer Torah may not be finished this way;
1. Rather, one makes the lines successively shorter, in order that they will finish at the bottom.
(d) Answer #1: Also Rav only permitted finishing a Chumash in the middle.
(e) Objection: Rav said ‘Sefer Torah’!
(f) Answer: He meant, a Chumash within a full Sefer Torah.
(g) Question: But R. Yehoshua bar Aba cited Rav to say that “L’Einei Kol Yisrael” (the last words of the Torah) may be in the middle of the Daf!
(h) Answer: He meant, in the middle of a line.
(i) Version #1 – Rashi – (Rabanan): One may finish a Sefer Torah (in the middle of a Daf), and even in the middle of a line;
(j) (Rav Ashi): It is permitted only to finish in the middle of a line (but not in the middle of the Daf).
(k) Version #2 – Shitah Mekubetzes – Rabanan): One may finish a Sefer Torah even in the middle of a line (all the more so, at the end of a line);
(l) (Rav Ashi): One must finish it in the middle of a line. (End of Version #2)
(m) The Halachah follows Rav Ashi.
2) THE LAST EIGHT VERSES OF THE TORAH
(a) (R. Yehoshua bar Aba): The last eight verses of the Torah (which follow Moshe’s death) are read by one person (Rashi – b’Tzibur; Rambam – they may be read (with Brachos) even without a Minyan).
(b) Suggestion: This is unlike R. Shimon!
1. (Beraisa – R. Yehudah or R. Nechemyah) Question: “Va’Yamas Sham Moshe” – Moshe could not have written this!
2. Answer: Yehoshua wrote this (and the remaining seven verses, too).
3. Objection (R. Shimon): “Lako’ach Es Sefer ha’Torah ha’Zeh” – it was called a Sefer Torah in Moshe’s lifetime, surely it was complete!
4. Answer #2 (R. Shimon): The rest of the Torah, Hash-m dictated and Moshe repeated the verse and wrote it; the last eight verses, Hash-m dictated and Moshe wrote it b’Dema (with his tears; Sefas Emes – he wrote the letters without spaces between words).
5. Similarly, Yirmeyah dictated his prophecy to Baruch (who wrote it; Rashi – similarly, Baruch did not repeat the verses on account of remorse) – “Mi’Piv Yikra Elai…va’Ani Kosev”.
(c) Rejection: No, R. Yehoshua’s law can even be like R. Shimon – even though Moshe wrote the eight verses, since they are different than the rest of the Torah, the law of reading them is also different.
(d) (R. Yehoshua bar Aba):One who buys a Sefer Torah did not fulfill the Mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah (Rashi – in the best way; Rama – at all); 1
. If he wrote a Sefer Torah, it is considered as if he received it from Sinai.
(e) (Rav Sheshes): If (even one letter of the Sefer he bought was wrong and) he corrected it, it is considered as if he wrote it (Tosfos – because it was forbidden to leave around until it was corrected).
3) THE SPACING OF THE WRITING
(a) (Beraisa): One can make between three and eight columns in a parchment, not more nor less;
(b) The number of columns should be according to the width of the parchment:
1. He should not make too many columns, for then (they will be thin,) it will look like a letter;
2. He should not make too few columns, for then (they will be long,) one may come to skip to the wrong line.
3. It should be wide enough to write 30 letters.
(c) If the parchment was the proper width to write nine columns (according to the size of the previous writing), he should cut it as evenly as possible, i.e. to write four columns on one piece and five on the other, not to write three and six.
(d) This does not apply to the end of the Sefer – there, he may cut a parchment to write one verse, or for one Daf.
(e) Objection: Surely, we do not allow a parchment the size of one verse!
(f) Correction: Rather, he may write one verse in a Daf.
(g) (In a Sefer Torah) the margins below, above and between columns should be, respectively, a Tefach; three Etzba’os, and two Etzba’os.
(h) In a Chumash, the margins below, above and between columns should be three Etzba’os, two Etzba’os and a Godel (thumb’s width).
(i) (In a Sefer Torah or Chumash) the space between lines should be the height of a line, the width of a letter should separate between words, a hair’s breadth should separate between letters of a word.
(j) One should not make the writing smaller in order to have the proper margins below or above or between lines or the proper (nine) spaces between Parshiyos (when the latter is ‘open’).
(k) If there was room for two letters at the end of the line and a five-letter word had to be written, he may not write two letters within the column and the other three outside (Rashi – past the Sirtut (a line scratched to help the scribe write in a straight line));
30b—————————————30b

1. He may write three letters within the column and the other two outside.
2. Version #1 (Shitah Mekubetzes): If the remaining two letters spell a word, he must write the entire word on the next line.
(l) Version #2 (Rashi): If a two-letter word had to be written (and the line was finished), he may not write it between the Dapim, rather, he writes it on the next line.
4) INSERTING HASH-M’S NAME
(a) (Continuation of Beraisa – R. Yehudah): If Hash-m’s name was omitted, he should Gorer (scrape off the (dried) ink of) the word written in its place, write Hash-m’s name over it, and Toleh the erased word (write it in between this line and the line above);
(b) R. Yosi says, it is even (R. Tam – only) permitted to Toleh Hash-m’s name (R. Tam – but not to write it over an erasure);
(c) R. Yitzchak says, it is even permitted to Mochek (rub off the ink (while it is still wet) of) the word written in its place, write Hash-m’s name over it, and Toleh the erased word. (Tosfos – R. Yitzchak addresses R. Yehudah, he does not allow Teliyah of Hash-m’s name; Rashba – in some texts R. Yitzchak precedes R. Yosi);
(d) R. Shimon Shezuri says, we may Toleh Hash-m’s entire name, but not part of it.
(e) R. Shimon ben Elazar says in the name of R. Meir, we may not write Hash-m’s name over any erasure nor Toleh it;
1. The entire parchment must be put in Genizah.
(f) (Rav Chananel): The Halachah is, we may Toleh Hash-m’s name.
(g) (Rabah bar bar Chanah): The Halachah is, we write it over a Machak.
(h) Question: Why didn’t each of them just say ‘the Halachah follows this Tana’?
(i) Answer: That would not suffice, because some versions of the Beraisa switch the opinions of the Tana’im.
5) THE “HALACHAH” ALWAYS FOLLOWS R. SHIMON SHEZURI
(a) (Ravin bar Chinena): The Halachah follows R. Shimon Shezuri – in fact, the Halachah follows him in all places.
(b) Question: Concerning which teaching did Ravin say this?
1. Suggestion: He said it concerning Teliyah of Hash-m’s name.
2. Rejection: If so, his opinion should have been taught with those of Rav Chananel and Rabah bar bar Chanah!
(c) Answer #1: He said it concerning a Ben Paku’a (a fetus found inside a slaughtered animal):
1. (Mishnah – R. Shimon Shezuri): Even if a Ben Paku’a is five years old and plowing in the field, it is permitted to eat on account of the slaughter of its mother (even mid’Rabanan we do not require another slaughter).
(d) Rejection: Ze’iri taught (concerning that Mishnah) the Halachah follows R. Shimon Shezuri, it was not recorded that Ze’iri and Ravin said that the Halachah follows R. Shimon Shezuri.
(e) Answer #2: He said it concerning the following Mishnah:
1. (Mishnah): At first, Chachamim said that if a man being taken to his execution commanded to write a Get to his wife, those who hear him should write *and give* it (surely, this was his intent, to exempt his wife from Yibum, he neglected to say ‘and give it’ amidst his panic).
2. Chachamim later said, the same applies to a man embarking on a sea voyage or with a caravan;
3. R. Shimon Shezuri says, this applies even to a deathly sick person.
(f) Answer #3: Perhaps he said it concerning Demai (produce bought from an Am ha’Aretz (one who is not trustworthy regarding Ma’aser), it is doubtfully tithed):
1. (Mishnah): If a Chaver separated Terumas Ma’aser on Demai and it became mixed with the Demai, one may ask the seller (whether or not it was already tithed. The seller is believed to say that it was, so the Chaver’s separation did not take effect, the mixture may be eaten like Chulin);
2. He is believed even on a weekday (even though normally, an Am ha’Aretz is only believed (to permit eating it without any separation) only on Shabbos (for the sake of Oneg Shabbos, since it is forbidden to tithe on Shabbos; alternatively, because an Am ha’Aretz is afraid to lie about this on Shabbos).
(g) Rejection (of answers 2 and 3): R. Yochanan taught that the Halachah follows R. Shimon Shezuri regarding a Get and Demai – it was not recorded that Ravin agreed regarding either of these.
(h) Answer #4: He said it concerning beans.
1. (Beraisa – R. Yosi ben Kiper citing R. Shimon Shezuri): If Mitzri beans were planted for the sake of their seeds (they are considered like legumes, Ma’aser is taken according to the year in which they took root), and some took root before Rosh Hashanah, some after, one cannot separate Ma’aser from beans of one year to exempt beans of the other;
2. Question: (If one does not know when each plant took root) how may he tithe them?
3. Answer: He mixes them all together and separates (the usual 10% of the total amount -we assume that they mix uniformly, so that) the right amount of Ma’aser from each year is taken, i.e. 10% of Yashan (last year’s beans) is taken from Yashan, and similarly regarding Chadash.
(i) Rejection: R. Shmuel bar Nachmani cited R. Yochanan to say that the Halachah follows R. Shimon Shezuri (regarding beans) – it was not recorded that Ravin agreed with this!